Ohio Bans Competitive Keyword Advertising by Lawyers
…Google * Competitive Keyword Advertising Still Isn’t Trademark Infringement, Unless…. –Adler v. Reyes & Adler v. McNeil * Three Keyword Advertising Decisions in a Week, and the Trademark Owners Lost…
Want to Engage in Anti-Competitive Trademark Bullying? Second Circuit Says: Great, Have a Nice Day!–1-800 Contacts v. FTC
…of furthering trademark policies.’ That does not mean that every trademark agreement has a legitimate procompetitive justification. If the ‘provisions relating to trademark protection are auxiliary to an underlying illegal…
Florida Hits a New Censorial Low in Internet Regulation (Comments on SB 7072)
…likely constitutional limits on states requiring Internet services to authenticate users. See Backpage v. McKenna. If an “access software provider” assesses a political candidate’s content or website as a security…
New York’s New Post-Mortem Right of Publicity Law Comes Into Effect, Part 2 (Guest Blog Post)
…such exploitation during one’s lifetime as a condition of having a post-mortem right of publicity. Those cases were based on the concept that a trademark must be “used” in order…
Eighth Circuit Embraces the Initial Interest Confusion Doctrine. What??? UGH. No. Why???–Select Comfort v. Baxter
…possible definition of initial interest confusion, because–by definition–marketers always seek to capture “initial consumer interest.” I explained this point over 90 pages in 2005. Because it’s an unworkable definition, the…
When It Came to @RealDonaldTrump, Twitter Couldn’t Please Everyone–Rutenberg v. Twitter
…So, represented by a lawyer (Mark Javitch), she sued Twitter for violating her civil rights. It only takes a few pages for the court to say that Twitter isn’t a…
Deconstructing Justice Thomas’ Pro-Censorship Statement in Knight First Amendment v. Trump
…to extend it to new facts. The Pruneyard decision may be a low-water mark for private property ownership rights, not the foundation of expanded censorship. (There is also the standard…
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Fair Use in Google-Oracle Software Battle (Guest Blog Post)
…fair uses from ordinary derivative uses was to look at market harm: “The market for potential derivative uses includes only those that creators of original works would in general develop…
Social Media Ownership Disputes Part II: Bridal Wear Company Takes Back Control of Instagram Account from Ex-Employee
…that she would participate virtually at a bridal expo potentially violates the non-compete. Trademark infringement: The trademark infringement claim appears premised on Ms. Gutman’s use of the account “as her…
Are Social Media Services “State Actors” or “Common Carriers”?
…reduction in the diversity of available content. Fewer publication venues available for us to speak. Many content categories will cease to exist. Ex: consumer reviews, online marketplaces, YouTube how-to videos,…